Things got heated in Major League Baseball on Tuesday night as the entire Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds teams were involved in a huge brawl.
Now, we might not know a lot about the American pastime over here in the UK, but if there’s something all sports fans love it’s a good old-fashioned fight on the field.
And the Pirates and Reds sure delivered as a bench-clearing brawl broke out in the final inning of Tuesday night’s game after a mad moment from Cincinnati relief pitcher Amir Garrett.
The clash between the two rivals had been brewing since the midway point of the game, when a Pirates pitcher tossed a fastball directly at the batter’s head – which led to a heated exchange between the teams at the changeover at the end of the inning.
Players and coaches then began to be ejected from the field after a number of fiery moments.
But they soon all entered the fray again when Reds reliever Garrett rushed the Pirates dugout and threw a number of wild punches and was then floored by essentially half of the Reds’ team – in what can only be described as a mass playground-style bundle.
In a report on MLB.com, several Pirates players claimed the first thing Garrett did when he took the mound was look directly at Pirates baseman Josh Bell and say: “F**k you.”
The managers of both teams then had to be forced apart by their teams as they hurled abuse at each other. Reds coach David Bell – ejected by umpires earlier in the game – has apparently got a reputation and is seen (see 1:00 in the video below) trading insults with Pirates manager Clint Hurdle after coming back on the field and shoving him.
Pittsburgh ended up 11-4 winners on the night, but the scoreline has already faded into memory after this almighty tangle between the two sides.
